Matriarch (maytree-arc)

Walking through the mall.
MJR: I'm surprised you pregnant women don't have a signal to each other.
ALR: Signal?
MJR: When you walk by each other, you know, like motorcycle riders.

The week started out with some rain but it's been beautiful... we can practically see the garden growing! The garlic and the onions are looking pretty good - we may have a better crop this year than last! The buds are on the trees and the grass has really greened up. It probably would be extremely wonderful but the cats are pissed at Matt. he fertilized he lawn, which made it unable for them to go outside for a couple days so now they sit at the window and have loud, sorrowful, pity parties!

While the week had some high activities, one of them was the completion of the light replacement. Makes me so happy to see 1. more light in the room, 2 those crappy old wood relics removed from the house.

While the weekdays were full, the weekend was really the highlight. On Saturday, we worked on errands specific to the house. We stopped by Cashman's to talk about landscaping, we looked at grills, we picked up some necessary items and came home. Matt thinks I'm nesting...to which I say, no. I'm not driven to vacuum, or dust, or whatnot but it feels good to see the house a bit organized.

Sunday, we headed down to Lemmon (SD) to celebrate my Grandma Elaine's 85th birthday with an open house. It was a packed facility! Not only did a lot of family travel from all over to see her but she had friends and relatives stop in as well to celebrate. There were stories shared of her and her milestone events but I couldn't help but think there were details missing that proved what type of person she is. Yes, she bakes bread. Yes, she is a mother and a wife. But she is also devoted to her family. No one mentioned the amount of stamps that she probably goes through in a week. The amount of chicken she's fried to make her family happy. The amount of times she's asked "What would you like to have to eat while you are here?" The record keeping that she's done, her blogging before blogging was a thing. Her trips to grandkids' games/events. Her scrabble, her crosswords, her wordfinds, her marbles. Her love of friends. Her hard work (she continues to do more before noon than I do all day). Her devotion to her faith. Her coming to your need, all you have to do is ask. Yes, she is my Grandmother. Yes, I'd take a babe ruth bar without hesitation... but I know there's more that people may forget at first glance.

Was good to see family too at the open house. We had a lot of baby questions, which was touching because I know the family is excited to meet her. It's amazing when I start to think of how big just one side is and what she's coming into. My 2 grandparents had 6 kids, who all got married and had children who are now having children. So that's 2 + 12 (children) + 23 (grandchildren and spouses) + 12 (great-grandchildren) + 3 (babies on the way) = 52 people (and counting). After the open house, a good portion of this 52 went over to Heather Jo and Brad's house for pizza and talking. They had a beautiful space for it and was fun to gather together. The only thing that made me mad was I wish I had gotten pictures of the group! Didn't realize until I got into the vehicle - was too busy catching up!

Best meal: We had walleye this week. Matt made a jerk walleye sandwich, as a nod to our last trip to Florida. I was so happy to be having fish, I had it just seasoned up with rice on the side.

Name of the week: I've been leading you all astray for so long... we've had her name choices selected

for a couple months now - actually we were down to two when we found out she was a she.
Uncle Harry did think it was a beautiful option if we named the baby after him. I told him to not get his hopes up.
Cravings: Red Pepper Tacos
Pregnancy Symptoms: uncomfortable, EXHAUSTED, continued snoring, the size of a large house-despite this, both her and I are thinking she's out of room.
At our weekly appointment, her heartbeat was at 156... she's been keeping it right around there. However when we asked about progress, we were told "See you next week! You can prove us wrong, but we'd be surprised."

ALR: It was a nice day!
MJR: Yeah, was good to talk to your cousins.
ALR: I'm glad you enjoy them.
MJR: I told them about your snoring.
ALR: WHAT?!
MJR: It's okay, I think their wives did it too.
ALR: Well....
MJR: I also told them that you bought 900 diapers.
ALR: I did not!
MJR: You did too, I went and counted them.
ALR: You went and counted them?!
MJR: Yes. I wanted to see how many that bought us.
ALR: It was a SALE!! I had to buy that many to get the sale!! Did you tell them that?
MJR: No.
ALR: Great, now they think I'm crazy. I can't believe you had enough time to go in and count boxes of diapers. I'd like you to use your time for good.